RICHMOND, Va. — According to the Virginia Department of Health, sickle cell disease impacts 1 in 12 African Americans in Virginia, yet the care available for both adults and children varies drastically depending on where you live in the state. This is especially true in the Tidewater area of Virginia where Newport News native Taylor Mickel is from.

The twenty-seven-year-old has battled with the disease since she was born, sometimes being hospitalized because of how painful some of her crises were.

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